Frozen liquid food package and method of making the same



Aug. 17, 1965 J. J. GALBIERZ ETAL FROZEN LIQUID FOOD PACKAGE AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed April 14, 1961 EIZE'. S

f R A of; mmap. w E Ww 4 UMRKIUH MM Y yf United States Patent O i 3,201,259 FROZEN LIQUID F'GD PACKAGE AND METHOD F MAKEN@ THE SAME Jerome J. Galhierz, Donald H. Eilerbrock, and .lames D.

Beckley, St. Louis, Mo., assignors to RC. Can Comr pany, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Apr. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 103,096 i Claims. (Cl. 99-l92) liquid to be frozen therein and to maintain the frozen p product sealed therewithin. lt is also important that the package is capable of being opened at one end to permit removal of the frozen contents while still providing a measuring container for adding water or other liquid to a previously dehydrated concentrate packaged within the container.

. The provision of a liquid-tight can which can be opened with a conventional can opener which removes one of the metal ends from the iiber can body without destroying the body or the other end fulfills these requirements.

The crimp normally used in the fiber can industry for locking the metal ends onto the fiber can body is not constructed to permit the use of a conventional can opener for opening the same. It is, therefore, necessary that the crimp and metal end construction be specifically designed to not only sealingly maintain the liquid and frozen contents therewithin, but also to support the toothed rotary driving Vwheel of a conventional `clamp type can `opener having a rotary cutting wheel for cutting out the center depressed portion of a metal end adjacent the bodywall of the can. We have found that in order tomaintain `driving contact of the driving wheel Wit-h the underlying` outer peripheral surface of the crimp, the driving wheel must `be held in substantially parallel relation to the longitudinal axis of the can when clamped in operativeposition thereon.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a frozen liquid food package including frozen liquid foods such as juice concentrates and the like, which incorporates `a relatively inexpensive liquid-tight fiber body with metal endscrimped thereon to sealingly confine the liquid which is subsequently frozen therewithin, the crimp of the metal ends being speciiically designed to permit opening of the can with a conventional clamp type can opener having a cutting wheel and toothed driving wheel which produces circumferential travel of the cutter around the inner edge of the crimp adjacent the body wall.

Itis a further object to provide a frozen food package including a container having spirally wound iibrous body Walls wherein the inside of said walls are positively sealed against moisture passing therethrough and wherein the ends are securely sealed thereon to prevent passage of the liquid into the body wall and outwardly around the crimp of theimetal ends.

It is another object to provide a method for producing a frozen liquid food package wherein the confining body of the package is formed by spirally winding fibrous strip material and simultaneously winding an inner body linerof strip material adhered to the inside of the fibrous body `wall and forming a liquid-tight seal covering the entire zigg Patented Aug. i7, 1965 inner surface of said body wall, Haring the ends of the can body thus formed, and thereafter inserting into one of the flared ends a metal end closure with a depressed central portion having the outside diameter thereof slightly larger than the nominal inside diameter of the fibrous body, to the engaged portion of the can body radially outwardly and enlarge the inside diameter thereof, to thereafter crimp the outer peripheral portion of the metal end tightly against the :outside of the can body to produce a seal and locking crimp specifically designed to receive the driving wheel of a can opener and to maintain the plane of .the driving wheel in substantially parallel relation to the axis of the container when the cutter wheel is in cutting position around the inside of said crimp, to thereafter insert into the container a predetermined quantity of a liquid food to be frozen, to close the other end of the container by inserting a similar metal end and crimping the same thereon in a similar manner, and finally` cooling the package sutlciently to freeze the liquid food. q

lt is still another object to provide such a package wherein a sealant is applied to the ends of the body Wall prior to the sealing of the metal ends thereon.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will more'fully appear from the following descrip tion made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which: i

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a. package embodying this invention;

` FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the crimp shown in FIG; l;

FIG. 3 is a View similar to FIG. 2 with a typical cani opener in operative position thereon;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of a container for the package embodying this invention wit-l1 the ends shown in exploded position; p

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a body wall of the container showing one flared end with sealant applied thereto; and

FlG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the construction of the container wall. i

As illustrated in the accompanying drawing, we provide a frozen liquid food package embodying a container it) of spirally wound construction and having an inner liner ll. such as a laminated foil liner helically applied to the inside thereof and securely adheredtheretot The helical joint of the liner designatedby the numeral 12 is designed so that the liquid proof surface of the foil is j the only surface exposed to theliquid tobe confined within the container. This can be done by folding the edge portion of the laminated foil 12 back upon itself so that the exposed foil portion will engage and be adhered to the foil edge disposed in lapped relation thereof, as best shown in FIG. 6. The adjacent overlapped surfaces are, of course, securely adhered together by a suitable foil adhesive such as a vinylcopolymer emulsion or polyisobutylene. j

i The body of the container is manufactured on a conventional spiral winding machine used in the fiber can industry wherein the inner foil liner 11 is applied `to the mandrel rst and helically .Wound therearound `are two plies of fibrous paper strip material 13a and. 13b forming j the Z-ply body 13. Kraft paperboard material `has been After vthe individual tube lengths have been cut, the ends of each tube are flared outwardly by a flaring die to facilitate entrance of the depressed center portion 14 of the metal end E. The outer diameter of said depressed center portion 14- is larger than the inside diameter of the container so that pressure must be applied to press the depressed center portion into the body and positively seat the end extremity of the tubular body against the annular channel 15 preformed in the metal end E as shown in FIG. 4. The flared ends on the body wall not only facilitate entrance of the somewhat larger center portion 14 of the metal end E, but also stretches the foil and fibrous body material suliiciently to prevent tearing thereof when the metal end is pressed therein.

After the ends have been flared, a suitable sealant S such as vinyl heat seal lacquer may be applied to extremities of the ared ends of the can. This sealant can be conveniently applied simultaneously to both ends of the containers or to only one end thereof.

If the sealant has been applied to both ends of the flared fibrous body walls, one of the ends E is crimped onto either end; if the sealant has been applied to only one end the metal end E is crimped to the other end, the sealant protecting the open end of the container, during shipping, storage and during steam sterilizing application. The containers with one end attached are transferred to the packager where they are filled with liquid and after filling, the other end is crimped thereon.

The outer crimp extends a substantial distance outwardly beyond the outside of the body wall to provide a bead against which the toothed driving wheel 16 of a can opener C will ride in driving engagement therewith. By providing a metal end E having a depressed central portion 14, slightly larger than the nominal inside diameter of the container body, not only the inside engaged body wall portion will be pressed outwardly but also the outer surfaces of the body wall will be pressed outwardly, thus positioning the outer bead 20 a sulhcient distance outwardly from the outer body wall to permit the can opener to ride thereon with the driving wheel 16 disposed inra plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cointainer.

It will be seen that this invention provides a novel and highly eiiicient frozen liquid food package which includes a spirally wound ber bodied container having a liquid-tight liner applied to the inside thereof and having metal ends crimped thereon to sealingly conne the product therewithin. The spiral winding of the container body produces a body wall of substantially uniform thickness around the entire circumference thereof. VIt should be noted that the drawing illustrating the double-backed lap joint 12 shows the thickness of the liner material in exaggerated proportion to the other dimensions of the container and the combined thickness of the foil and supporting lamination used for the liner 11 is less than .003 inch thick. The joint' of the body stock 13 is, of course, a spiral butt joint which does not increase the thickness of any portion of the container. As is shown in FIG. 6, a suitable outer Wrapper 21 is similarly applied to the outside of the fibrous body 13, and the joints of the louter'wrapper 21, body 13 and liner 11 are out of register to produce maximum strength in the side Wall of the container. The outer wrapper 21 may also be of laminated foil having a lithographed design for attractive appearance.

The method defined herein for producing this package is an important part of this invention and permits the package to be efhciently and inexpensively manufactured.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangements and proportion of parts Without departing from the scope of the invention, which generally stated consists in the matter set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A frozen liquid food package comprising a container with a frozen juice product contained therein, said container comprising a helically wound generally cylindrical fibrous body wall with liner material helically applied to the inside surface thereof out of register with the body wall and adhered thereto, the ends of said body wall being flared outwardly to stretch and enlarge the same, a metal end closure having a depressed central closure portion of a diameter slightly larger than the nominal diameter of said tubular body and forcibly pressed into the ared end portion of said body to project the enlarged circumferential portion of said body wall outwardly around said depressed portion to enlarge not only the inside diameter thereof but also the outside diameter of the adjacent body wall and the outer peripheral portion of said metal end being doubled back upon itself and crimped tightly against the enlarged outer wall vto sealingly enclose the juice product confined therewithin and provide an outer bead to -drivingly engage the toothed driving wheel of a conventional can opener to ermit a cutter element of said can opener to be progressively moved around the outside of said central depressed portion to cut the same around the inside of the container wall and open the package.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and the inner liner material being spirally wound foil material with adjacent marginal portions thereof overlapped, the construction of the foil overlapped joint being such that only the `foil surface is exposed t-o contact with the product contained therein.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 and at least one of the flared ends of said body having sealant applied thereto.

4. The method of producing a frozen liquid food package comprising initially helically winding a generally cylindrical fibrous body with a liner helically applied to the inside surface thereof, cutting the body to a predetermined length, flaring the ends of said body, inserting into one of the flared ends a metal end with a depressed central portion having a larger outside diameter than the nominal inside diameter of the body to forcibly enlarge the engaged circumferential portion of the body and project the same outwardly, crimping the metal end tightly against the outer surface of the body in a manner to provide an outer crimping bead adapted for engagement with the driving wheel of a can opener, filling the open-ended container thus formed with the liquid product to be frozen, inserting into the other end of the container a metal end similar to the first-mentioned metal end, crimping said second end onto said body in a similar manner to that used for the irst end and freezing the liquid product within the container.

5. The method set forth in claim 4, and applying a sealing liquid to the flared ends of the body prior to crimping the end closures thereon.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,775,549 9/ 30 Birdseye 99-193 2,426,368 8/47 Mayne et al 99--192 2,793,126 5/57 Fienup et al. 99-172 3,015,568 1/62 McLain 99--172 OTHER REFERENCES Quick Frozen Foods, May 1953, page 129.

Reynolds Metals Company, article entitled How Aluminum Can Save Tin, pages 1 to 5, 9 and 13, September 1954. f

A. LOUIS MONACELL, Primary Examiner.

ABRAHAM H. WINKELSTEIN, TOBIAS E. LEVOW,

Examiners. 

1. A FROZEN LIQUID FOOD PACKAGE COMPRISING A CONTAINER WITH A FROZEN JUICE PRODUCT CONTAINED THERIN, SAID CONTAINER COMPRISING A HELICALLY WOUND GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL FIBROUS BODY WALL WITH LINER MATERIAL HELICALLY APPLIED TO THE INSIDE SURFACE THEREOF OUT OF REGISTER WITH THE BODY WALL AND ADHERED THERETO, THE ENDS OF SAID BODY WALL BEING FLARED OUTWARDLY TO STRETCH AND ENLARGE THE SAME, A METAL END CLOSURE HAVING A DEPRESSED CENTRAL CLOSURE PORTION OF A DIAMETER SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE NOMINAL DIAMETER OF SAID TUBULAR BODY AND FORCIBLY PRESSED INTO THE FLARED END PORTION OF SAID BODY TO PROJECT THE ENLARGED CIRCUMFERENTIAL PORTION OF SAID BODY WALL OUTWARDLY AROUND SAID DEPRESSED PORTION TO ENLARGE NOT ONLY THE INSIDE DIAMETER THEREOF BUT ALSO THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF TEH ADJACENT BODY WALL AND THE OUTER PERIPHERAL PORTION OF SAID METAL END BEING DOUBLED BACK UPON ITSELF AND CRIMPED TIGHTLY AGAINST THE ENLARGED OUTER WALL TO SEALINGLY ENCLOSE THE JUICE PRODUCT CONFINED THEREWITHIN AND PROVIDE AN OUTER BEAD TO DRIVINGLY ENGAGE THE TOOTHED DRIVING WHEEL OF A CONVENTIONAL CAN OPENER TO PERMIT A CUTTER ELEMENT OF SAID CAN OPENER TO BE PROGRESSIVELY MOVED AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF SAID CENTRAL DEPRESSED PORTION TO CUT THE SAME AROUND THE INSIDE OF THE CONTAINER WALL AND OPEN THE PACKAGE. 